The Book of Lyaxia #2

The Book of Lyaxia #2

Second Sight Publishing 2021

Created & Written by Aron Pohara

Pencilled by Andy Baquerizo

Inked by Tsubasa Yozora

Coloured by Jesse Heagy

Lettered by Francisco Zamora

Deimos and Adonis head to the heart of Lhander empire, as it's ruler Mahees prepares for war. Back in the capital of Titaan, Chronos and Ares have to contend with a threat that hits Chronos home more than he ever imagined! War is coming to the Nexus. Whose side will you be on?

I was taken with the first issue as it I found it a great introduction to the series. With this second issue i’m more taken with it, I find myself enamoured by what I see here. There is some absolutely beautiful moments happening within this and there are even aspects of this that reminds me of something Shakespearean in how it all plays out with the names of the Gods of old. The idea and the names are familiar sure but everything else feels like it is an original new story to be marvelled at. The creativity and imagination that we see through the writing and the artwork is sensational and it is what the reader sees and feels that makes them love this and want to continue seeing and learning more of.

I am digging the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development is phenomenal as seen through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story along with the twists & turns that we see just draws the reader deeper and deeper into this world and the story.

I am a big fan of the way that we see this being structured and how we see the layers within the story continuing to grow, strengthen and evolve. I love these bits too because these layers are where the interesting stuff happens and gives us great insight into these people and their motives for the larger picture. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved incredibly well.

The interiors here are bloody gorgeous. The linework that we see is outstanding and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this level of detail in the work is astounding to see. I love the fact that you’d never know that there is a penciller and inker, two separate blokes, and that one person didn’t do this and that’s quite the accomplishment on how well the two work together. That we see backgrounds utilised as we do is amazing and how they work within the composition within the panels to create the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is phenomenal. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is divine. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is extremely well rendered.

I love the cliffhanger ending here. How we get to that ending is remarkable as the writing is superbly strong and intelligent and then how they work with the interior artwork to create this magnificent world is stunning work. Second Sight is a great new publishing house and an outlet for voices that are strong, talented and bring us the kind of stories you’ll not see anywhere else.